2023–present, Vancouver
A multi-year, cross-sector project advancing offsite wood construction, strategic land use and policy innovation to unlock housing supply and deliver affordability, climate action and economic development in small towns, Indigenous communities and big cities in BC.
Executive Director:
Alex Boston
With:
Brenda Knights (BC Indigenous Housing Society)
Melina Scholefield (Zero Emissions Innovation Centre) and
Arjun Singh (A Better Citizen Consulting)
Project funding:
Zero Emissions Innovation Centre and the Real Estate Foundation of BC
2024–present, Vancouver
Co-op housing educator delivering online and in-person courses to members, boards and staff on governance and member engagement.
2022–2024, Vancouver
A one year project to support non-market housing boards, engage community members on housing and neighbourhood planning and create connections with diverse community members.
Community planning and staff lead:
Sarah Brown (False Creek South Neighbourhood Association)
Community leads:
Nancy Hannum and Keith Jones (Alder Bay Co-op), Sarah-Louise Gilmore (Marina Co-op); Kim Fleming and Sarah Brown (Twin Rainbows Co-op); Flavia Marcondes and Carole Lewis (Heritage Co-op); Michael Talbot (Greater Vancouver Floating Home Co-op); Dolores Bzdel and Clara Salamanca (Creekview Co-op); and Daniela Elza and Jennifer Wyss (False Creek Co-op)
Project funding: Community Housing Transformation Centre
2022–2023, Vancouver
A one year community research and exploratory communication arts project focussed on False Creek South, Vancouver, a neighbourhood under threat of demolition and displacement by the City of Vancouver.
Project funding: Canada Council for the Arts
RECENT ENGAGEMENT & RESEARCH COURSEWORK
Dialogue and Engagement: Principles and Concepts
Introduction to World Cafe and Open Space Technology
Design Thinking Methods for Engagement
Voices from the Future Present
1. Love Rain Press
Sample pages from wholesale catalogue
Role: Market research, graphic design
2025
2. Local Government Offsite Housing Accelerator
Webinar graphic (top) and eventbrite banner
Role: graphic designer
2024
Role: Illustrator, product development
2024
4. Co-op Collaboratory
Illustration by Renske Wernrer
Butterflyway Project postcard
Role: Art director
Co-op lead: Dolores Bzdel
2024
5. Co-op Collaboratory
Example page of notes shared after creative engagement session
Role: notetaker, graphic designer
2024
6. Local Government Offsite Housing Accelerator
Event signage
Role: graphic designer
2023
Role: graphic design
2023
Role: graphic design
2022
Role: illustrator
2022
10. Place Mattering Matters Salon No 3: Leslie Kern
Sample slides from a short census data presentation from a neighbourhood that is unusually dense with co-op housing. Part of an introduction for a salon with ‘Feminist City’ author Leslie Kern.
Role: presenter, census data analyst, graphic designer
2022
Part of a series of six community design salons co-organized by me, poet Daniela Elza and architects Richard Evans and Graham McGarva
Role: content research, graphic design
2021
236–1628 West 1st Avenue
Vancouver, BC V6J 1G1
mariaroth.projects@gmail.com
cell 604.653.1848
SERVICES
Engagementdialogue, storytelling, art, participatory research, events, community-centred learning
Facilitationopen space, world cafe, storycircles, town halls
online, in-person and hybrid events
Community researchinterviews, participatory research, asset mapping, census data, surveys, documentation, photography
Design & illustrationpostcards, brochures, reports, posters, booth graphics, swag, email newsletters, social media posts
— Sarah Brown, False Creek South Neighbourhood Association
Maria “goes out of her way to include others that might otherwise be overlooked....co-ops have a concern for the broader community, so they’ve been the glue and the engine that has driven the development of everything that’s happened with [False Creek South]. Maria has become a key organizer and spokesperson because she leads with both intellect and passion, and she wants everybody along for the ride.”
— Thom Armstrong, Cooperative Housing Federation of BC